Vette – September 2019

badging. The Baldwin-Motion cars

looked seriously mean; not pretty like
the West Coast cars. And Joel Rosen

offered a guarantee that his Phase III
Camaros would run 11.50 at 120 mph

in the quarter.
It all came together by design. Rosen

and the brand’s co-founder Marty
Schorr are on record explaining that

they had no idea the Motion cars would
be so popular and valuable. At first,

Rosen thought it would be a great way
to keep his shop busy. Schorr thought it

would help sell more magazines at the
newsstand. This story is not complete

without an overview of Marty Schorr

and Joel Rosen, as the enterprise could

not have happened without their unique

talents. Rosen spun the wrenches and

Schorr spun the spin.

Schorr grew up in New York City

(Bronx) in the 1950s, when hot rod

clubs were popular with young car guys.

Marty knew that his talents weren’t on

the mechanics side, but in photogra-

phy and writing. He quickly became

his car club’s (Draggin Wheels) photog-

rapher and started writing stories for

several car magazines. In 1960, prior to

a stint in the Army, Marty landed a job

as editor of Custom Rodder and Cars,

Speed & Style magazines. He returned

to Magnum-Royal Publications in late-

1963 and in 1965 he took over as editor

of Cars and became editorial director of

the publishing company.

Joel Rosen was a New York City

(Brooklyn) kid who learned mechan-

ics in the Air Force, working on WW

II radial piston engines. After Rosen’s

military service was complete he bought

a very small auto service/gas station in

Brooklyn. The shop measured 20x200-

feet and had a pay phone, a dyno,

and very big German Shepherd guard

This photo isn’t manipulated. Rosen
would sometimes take his A/Modi-
fied Production Camaro out front of his
shop on Sunrise Highway for some brief
“tests.” (Photo: Martyn L. Schorr Archive)

“Astoria-Chas” Snyder was just 18 years old
when his mom bought him a 1967 427/435
Corvette. Street racing taught Charlie that
his L71 didn’t have enough grunt, so Mr.
Motion installed an L88. Snyder was later
killed in Vietnam and shortly after, Rosen, John Mahler and some friends helped fulfil Charlie’s dream of nailing the AHRA A/
Corvette World Record of 11.04 at 129 mph. Mahler later ran a 10.47 at a local track, parked the car and it was never raced again.
The Astoria-Chas Corvette is currently owned by Glen Spielberg. (Photo: Martyn L. Schorr Archive)

By the fall of 1967, the full Baldwin-
Motion program was in place. The
Marina Blue 1967 SS-427 Camaro in the
foreground was being prepared for
customer delivery. Joel “Mr. Motion” is
in the center. On the left is Dave Bean,
general manager of Baldwin Chevrolet,
and on the right is Ed Simonin, owner
of Baldwin Chevrolet. (Photo: Martyn L.
Schorr Archive)

With Motion Maco parts in his body shop,

Rosen created two unique combinations.

The Manta Ray was part Phase III GT and

part Motion Maco. Only three cars were

built. (Photo: Martyn L. Schorr Archive)

Moray Eel was the last of Mr. Motion’s

“Shark” Motion Corvettes. The Moray Eel

has none of the Phase III GT body parts,

but has the Maco flip front end. Only one

Moray Eel was built. (Photo: Dan McMi-

chael Archive)

46 VETTE 19.09

[FEATURE]

PHASE III SUPERCARS